FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Report Appears of ‘Secret, Direct’ U.S.-D.P.R.K. Negotiations

April 8, 2018 (EIRNS)—CNN (only) on Saturday evening April 7 reported that “several Administration sources” had told it that secret talks are occurring between North Korea and the United States in preparation for a direct meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The current talks are said to be through an intelligence agency back-channel, in which there have already been several meetings of intelligence officials from both countries. Immediately, it said, the aim is a meeting between CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the head of North Korea’s corresponding agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

Supposedly the summit location is being discussed first, before talks on a more detailed agenda. However, CNN includes this statement:

“Although the North Korean regime has not publicly declared its invitation by Kim Jong-un to meet with Trump, which was conveyed last month by a South Korean envoy, several officials say North Korea has since acknowledged Trump’s acceptance, and Pyongyang has reaffirmed Kim is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

In the recent summit of China’s President Xi Jinping with Kim, and former Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi’s subsequent meeting with R.O.K. President Moon Jae-in, it was clear that China wishes and deserves to play a major part in negotiations on denuclearization and peace. China has publicized that Kim agreed to revive the Six-Party Talks framework.